91-Year-Old Man Mauled by Dog in Arcata Earlier This Week Dies

The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim of a fatal dog attack on June 25, 2018 in Arcata as 91-year-old Donald Steele. Steele’s cause of death has been determined to be from injuries consistent with a dog attack. His manner of death has been determined as accidental.

Humboldt County Animal Control took possession of the dog following the incident. The dog was euthanized June 28 following orders from the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services. The dog tested negative for rabies.

The Arcata Police Department is investigating this incident. All inquiries related to this case should be directed to the Arcata Police Department at (707) 822-2428.

145 comments

The owner should be facing charges. Otherwise we all get to carry guns and shoot dogs we are concerned about. (No, I don’t really want to do that)

I don’t know the dog or who owned it. But the owner should be defending him or herself from manslaughter or accidental homicide charges.

It’s plausible the dog unexpectedly freaked and did something completely out of character. Not guilty then.

But it’s also plausible that the dog has given warning signs and should have been put down years ago…. guilty.

An elder died a fearful death. I don’t know that man either.

But owners of potentially lethal animals need to be concerned about the ramifications of the dogs harming others. This owner needs to be facing charges and having a thorough inspection of the circumstances.

I have started to carry a knife with me. A friend of mine yesterday has his dog attacked by 2 other dogs while he was on leash. My dog wears a muzzle on walks and at other times because he is overactive. If someone’s dog comes after me and my dog I’m stabbing it till its fucking dead. No if’s ands or buts about it. From now on that’s my policy.

That would be a horrendous thing to do. You would be forever changed after killing a living being by stabbing it to death. Please carry pepper spray instead. No need to stab anything to death. So brutal!

I carry a good knife with me as well. Not for people but for dogs. I once tried to stop a bull-mastiff attack, with a sledge hammer. The mastiff actully took 4 full blows from a sledge hammer before it stopped attacking the other dog (golden retriever). Of course the mastiff was pretty messed up afterward. I never heard the extent of its injuries from the owners.

Andrea, where was your friend when their on-leash dog was attacked? What was the outcome?

I tried to walk my dogs just a few blocks and encountered two unleashed dogs; one was aggressive but kept its distance and FINALLY the owner came and got him…an old dog on 18th, East of Myrtle (a neighbor came out and was angry ..the old dog has been a problem for some time apparently) and the other dog was running along side its owner who was riding a bike and the owner yelled out “Sorry, he is a puppy!!” WTF?! Her puppy ran across the street directly at me and my two dogs. I dropped the leash of one of my dogs as had that puppy ran up to us mine might have gotten defensive and a fight could have ensured. She put her puppy and me and my dogs ALL at risk. I am so tired of people feeling entitled to have their dog/s off leash and the lame excuses they give. It doesn’t matter if your dog is “Friendly”, if it runs up to a leased dog who knows what the outcome could be and also it puts strain on the person holding the leashed dog/s. Just because there are youtube videos of dogs who are amazingly well trained doesn’t mean you have a chance in hell of doing the same with yours and no matter they should be on leash. It is as if people think it is still the 1950s and/or it is “Cool” to have a dog that doesn’t “Need” to be on a leash. Eye roll.

We need new severe punishments to make dog users, owners, keepers care enough to prevent that first attack.

The dogs suffer too when their humans fail them.

Prisons are too expensive and overcrowded already.

Fines alone don’t work as the wealthy simply pay them and the poor simply don’t.

It’s illegal to plant landmines in the lawn or rig a hand grenade to explode when the gate is opened. Bully dogs are worse than land mines or grenades as they can move around under their own power, invading yards, vehicles, houses.

Here’s a new cost effective, BREED NEUTRAL law , that if publicized and enforced, will begin to make dog owners care.

Charge all owners, users, handlers of dogs that cause severe injury or death of dogs, farm animals or people, or cats away from the dog’s home, with felony animal neglect and cruelty.

Immediately remove all dogs from their property or contact.

Found guilty, they all receive a ban on any dog contact or ownership for LIFE.

Signs must be posted: no dogs permitted. The FBI has begun tracking animal abusers so they can become the national registry.

Any dogs later found in their possession or on the property will be immediately confiscated.

You can own any dog you want until you fail to keep your dog and others safe. They you lose your dog privileges forever.

If it was a pitbull only the genes are *responsible*. They are great dogs until they are not and then it is too late. If it was a pitbull, the only way the owner was *responsible* is by choosing the dog to begin with. Sorry but chihuahuas, spaniels, and even other terrier breeds do not do this. Nor do poodles, beagles, basset hounds, or any other breeds of dogs.

Chihuahuas are the biggest assholes on the planet. The only thing is they don’t pack the same power. That whole breed is aggressive. Please educate yourself. Pit bulls were traditionally known as nanny dogs in England.

I adopted a chihuahua after my little jack russell mixed passed away last fall and she is nuts! She thinks she is a pit bull. I always leash her even in my front yard. She is and was great with my grandchildren though, the minute I brought her home (they were at my house when I brought her home from the Humane Society locally). It’s other dogs she doesn’t like and men she doesn’t know. Once she knows you, she is a total love bug.

There has NEVER been any such thing as a “nanny dog”. That’s a myth made up by a breeder in 1971. She needed an especially stupid market for her excess pups. Only a complete moron would consider ANY dog capable of being a nanny and certainly not the number one canine killer of children.

That is a complete myth made up by a breeder in 1971. She needed a particularly stupid market for her unsold fighting breed pups. Anyone would have to be pretty dense to consider any dog capable of being a nanny, let alone the number one canine killer of people for many many years running.

Chihuahua aggression?
If all dog aggression is equal, then we should say all shots are equal.

“When he heard his neighbor say that her pit bull was due for her shots, he got his pistol and shot the pit bull, two times.”
There, she got her shots.

This is how bully people would handle the pit attacks and killings of other dogs or humans….

Don’t judge. The neighbor isn’t human aggressive, he only shot the dog! Dog aggression is very different from human aggression. Maybe the dog looked fearful. If you show fear, that can cause an attack.

Seriously, dog fighters, the true experts of unprovoked prolonged “kill or die trying” dog aggression, use only bully dogs because they know pits are different.

The dog men intentionally breed pits to mature to become psychopaths, to attack maul and kill family on neutral ground, without first trying to avoid conflict.

If you admire road rage, pits make fine pets.

Unlike normal dogs, “good” game-insane fighting dogs do not stop even if the other totally submits.

Unlike normal dogs, good pits have zero self preservation instincts, so they continue attacking even when suffering severe personal injury.

Ones that will struggle across the pit as they are near death are highly praised as “DEAD game”.

Who needs unprovoked prolonged suicidal dog aggression?
Dog fighters and other psychopaths do.
And dog fighters truly appreciate the support they receive from all those who resist fighting dog breeding restrictions!

Bites are not the same as mauling. If a chijuajua bites, or a beagle, it can be painful. It can require stitches, but life isn’t forever altered generally. A pitbull might give a simple bite.
Irregardless of breed, if someone dies or is gravely mauled by a dog, that dog’s owner needs to face serious consequences.
Wolves sometimes kill, as do St Bernards, pitbulls, mastiffs, and probably others. Most dogs in those breeds are loving. But, People are less likely to overlook the sketchy behavior of their big potentially deadly dog if they know jail is a potential outcome if things go bad.

I’ve seen bites serious enough to require extensive surgery and change the health forever of the person who was bitten. And this elder died. The good and bad of a breed is a nonsense argument. The strong argument is in the outcome.

If a dog big enough to kill displays dangerous behavior, the owner needs to deal or be held responsible for the outcome.

I agree with you 100% asmithy. My bro-in-law raises pitbulls, not a single one mean. Pitts were given a bad name just like the Dobies and Rotties. Ive never been bitten or attacked by these dogs, but sure have with the rug-mop dogs and chi-chi dogs. Every mail person I know will tell you the same thing, they all have problems with the little fluff ball dogs then the larger breeds Its all in how the animal is raised, as to how it will act and re-act

It’s not abused or fighting dogs that are mauling and killing, but rather well loved family dogs. While in a small percentage of, bad owners have been part of the problem, it is wrong to focus only on the owner, and not also on the breed. If it were a bad owner problem, we would see other breeds attacking as frequently and severely as pit bulls. Certainly the 300 other breeds also have bad owners and are abused. But actually genetics play a major role in behavior. This is obvious in all breeds. For instant, observe behaviors in other breeds. Collies herd, Blood Hounds track, Pointers point birds, Labradors retrieve, etc. All of these are inherited behaviors. Pit bulls were selectively bred for blood sports. One can’t love or train out genetics. Read, “Canine Behavioral Genetics: Pointing Out the Phenotypes and Herding up the Genes” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2253978/ “While advocates of these breeds claim that maltreatment is more likely underlying cause of the kind of aggression leading to biting incidents (some of which involve human fatalities), in fact we know that personality is fairly unresponsive to environment.” http://www.animalbehavioronline.com/dogpersonality.html The pit bull lobby will tell you it’s not genetics, but this is Kimbo, the sire of the pit bull named Niko that killed Mia Derouen. Other owners of Kimbo’s off spring have stated that their dogs have had aggression problems as well. https://www.dogsbite.org/pdf/pedigree-niko-sire-most-wanted-kimbo.pdf Pit bulls don’t have to be trained to fight. Even pit bull puppies know how to fight at a young age. Watch this video of four pit bull puppies violently fighting: https://www.facebook.com/784811771645628/videos/vb.784811771645628/798164500310355/?type=2&theater

Furthermore, half of all pit bull related fatalities are on their own owners or family members. I refuse to believe these owners would raise their own dogs kill themselves or their loved ones. The argument of nature vs. nurture is a fun academic discussion but there is no reason to own an animal that can kill you if you are not the “Dog Whisperer.” There are 300 other breeds of dogs that even when neglected and abused do not turn on people or kill other animals as a result.

How many Chihuahua have killed someone none. A chihuahua or rug mop bite requires most times a band aid, while larger dogs of other breeds may require a few stitches for most bites. But pit bull maulings require, life flight, trauma, plastic, orthopedic, and thoracic surgeons, years of treatments and surgeries, loss of limbs, caskets, and funerals, and millions of dollars in bills. Pit bulls don’t bite like a normal dog the rip and tear, and shred flesh, and they will not turn loose, unless they are trying to attack another victim. Police and others have used tasers, pepper spray, ball bats, boiling water, even knives, and any thing else they could get their hands on the the pit bull never even acknowledges it, they are solely focused on killing and the sad part is they are wagging their tail while doing it. The woman in these pictures had life threatening injuries by the families to loving pit bulls who had never shown any signs of aggression, and were raised from pups in a loving home. She walked into a room and the dogs came up to her tails wagging, leaped up and grabbed her by the face and yanked her to the floor and she was fighting for her life. She barely survived the injuries and almost bled to death on the way to the hospital. People have to be insane to defend a dog that does this on a regular basis. This happens several times a day every single day and they kill a person every 20 days or less on average.

Pit bulls killed 29 people last year along and 17 of them were elderly 74 percent. The next deadliest breed was the German Shepherd with 4 deaths or 10 percent, next is mixed breeds with 3 or 8 percent, the next is Labs 2 or 5 percent, and Mastiffs 2 or 5 percent, then Unknown 2 or 5 percent. So as you can see, it is always the pit bull. Since it is proven so dangerous anyone who owns a pit bull that mauls or kills someone should be charged whether the dog had shown previous signs of being vicious or not, because they chose knowingly to own such a dangerous breed and then were negligent in people or other animals safe from it. From 2005 to 2014 pit bulls killed over 200 people.

Pits have a marketing team behind them which enables dogfighters. No other dog has that, including Dobermans and wolf hybrids. Why is it only dog fighting breeds need commercialization? Best Friends Animal Society spends millions to prop up the image of the pit bull as a normal pet.

Hate to say it my friend, but there are no bad dogs, just bad training and owners. I had a Weiner dog who loved everyone, but if he didnt like you watch out. I now have a Heeler/border who thinks everyone is her friend but if they raise their voice at me, she will attack

How many people have Dachshunds killed, lol. None. That is a myth. How can you say that about a dog that was bred for centuries to kill and to love doing it. All breeds have bad owners so why wasn’t there a lot more deaths by normal breeds of dogs. Instead 74 percent of dog deaths last year were by pit bulls and fifty percent of those were the loving owner or the owners family member. So if it was bad owners why did the train them to kill them selves or the ones that they loved. lol That statement makes no sense. “MEAN OWNERS” MAKE DOGS AGGRESSIVE

The Myth:
When a fighting breed injures or kills a human or pet, advocates say “it’s not the breed, it’s the owner.” They claim that dogs only act aggressively if abused or mistreated.

The Reality:

Many breeds of dogs suffer a lifetime of pain and mistreatment without behaving aggressively. Examples include laboratory Beagles, cart-pulling dogs (pre-20th century), and the millions of street dogs living today all over the third world.
About half of dogs that kill humans are indoor, middle-class family pets with no history of being abused or neglected. Most police investigations conclude that the owner did not contribute to the dog’s aggression through mistreatment of any sort.
As a rule, dogs involved in violent incidents act very differently from abused dogs. Abused animals have a tendency to avoid conflict. They usually only bite when they are cornered and perceive that they have to defend themselves. This is called “fear biting”. They rarely inflict damage worse than a puncture wound. They do not escape from leashes, scale fences, or jump off of second floor balconies to launch an attack. They do not chase people or animals down to bite or maul them. Behaviors associated with abuse are actually considered “bold” behaviors that are rooted not in abuse, but in the dog’s own genetics.
Current research shows that animal behavior is primarily guided by instincts predetermined by their genetic profile or inherited traits. Socialization and training account for only a fraction of how a dog will react to strangers or family members. Nevertheless, using non-harsh training techniques remains one of the first lines of defense against generating aggression in a dog that would otherwise be okay.

“PUPPIES ARE A CLEAN SLATE”

Puppy with blackboardThe Myth:
Many people believe that puppies do not have formed traits or personalities. They are balls of clay that can be molded into any dog the owner wants them to be. Many people believe that “starting with a puppy” is the best way to ensure a safe family pet.

The Reality:
Dogs are born with a combination of genetically bred traits and individual personality. Often behavior can be shaped by the dogs’s experiences, both good and bad. In many cases, no amount of training and socialization can overcome certain hard-wired genetic traits. Nature is much more in control of what a dog becomes than the nurturing owner. In other words, breeding is a larger determinant of behavior than environment.

Most dogs will not exhibit their true behaviors and personalities until they reach maturity, which is usually 1-3 years of age, depending on breed. Just because a puppy is raised with children, does not mean it will tolerate children as an adult. As the dog matures it may demonstrate that it does not possess a disposition suitable for infants and small children. Sometimes, even puppies are not safe with our toddlers or kids. Pit bulls as young as 4-6 months of age have mauled, and even killed humans.

Of course, the vast majority of puppies, even those from fighting breeds, will not grow up to kill humans. However, there have been at least two recent, unrelated cases where pit bulls were purchased as puppies and raised as beloved indoor pets with the owners’ children. At the ages of 8 and 9 years old, these dogs—neither of which had a bite history—each killed a child. In the 2013 case, the dog decapitated the owner’s toddler while the mother was briefly in the bathroom. No noises were heard from either dog or child. Our strong position is that bringing a dog into the home as a puppy and raising it with children is definitely not a guarantee that the dog will be “safe.”

Before bringing a dog into your house, we recommend:

Educate yourself about the history of the breed. Give serious consideration to the breed’s safety record. Just like with consumer goods, not every individual has to be dangerous for a recall to be initiated. If you are a parent, would you choose a recalled crib model for your child when much safer models are readily available? Remember, you are bringing in another member of your family for a long period of time.
Evaluate the dog’s parents or other relatives, if possible. For instance, the mother of the dog described above had been euthanized prior to the arrival of the second child due to aggression. Yet the owner still believed her own dog to be “safe,” because she had raised it from puppyhood with her children.http://www.daxtonsfriends.com/canine-myths-2/

Interesting perspective,I wonder about endrocrine disruption,on violence of humans. Boys Adrift.a ten year old boy was just beat to death by parents for calling himself gay.i read 22 yr old female has 40 x’s acceptable estrogenic factor.and violence in jail,sexual.

that is very interesting. I myself was beat as a child when I messed up,mom claims to this day she didn’t know but I don’t see how that’s possible..grew up hard by the time I reached age 15 I was a vilont kid ,lots of fight starting fights with the wrong people,left home at 15 and lived on the streets of san fran. learned how to rob/mug grown men and I loved it. lived in the streets of nyc became extremely capable of survival and thrived and was often in scary or vilolent situations that reqired extreme violence in order to survive..flash forward,18 joined military. did extremely well as the military encouraged my violent tendencies..over seas I fell in love with the power to kill and not have to account. I was in for 7 years ,got out at age 26, went right back to the streets like I never left,but now I was a trained killer so I got rapped upp in drugs and crime and again hard core violence…flash forward to age 40. tired ,old,sick from years of abuse,got on methadone clinic.my testocerin dropped and my estrogen levels rose and it was like a switch turned off my addiction to violenc,brutality. and chaos.i conclude that due to nature and nurcher combination made a “pefect storm” for that behavior.does that make any sence?

You’re full of shit on that. Both dobbie and rotts can be just as aggressive as are little dogs, if those little dogs could hurt someone they would. It’s all in how you raise them. It’s not the breed, it’s the people who raise them. My pit is terrified of my frenchie and runs and hides from him when the frenchie starts being mean and aggressive.

You are the one full of shit. Look up the facts. Pit bulls killed 29 people last year, three times more than all the other breeds put together, and dobermans and rottweilers were not even on the list. And if we are talking about bites there is no comparison between a reg. dog bite and a mauling by a pit who rips flesh from bones and shred the flesh on arms and legs. They always go for the face and throat, the don’t bite and release like a normal breed. Below is a list of last years victims and the dog involved. How many were other breeds?

[edit] I have only owned pitbulls my whole life in fact I have two in my house right now very loving right down to the fact that my kids could build sand castles on their heads I have had two poodles bite me three Chihuahuas bite me and as far as terrier breeds if they’re not working they’re the worst dog to own everybody thinks it’s so cute when a Chihuahua runs up and Barks but if that was a pitbull it would be a different story when it comes to pit bulls everybody thinks that they’re bad dogs because of the poor owners the do poor jobs on raising them any dog can be dangerous if they are not raised Right

[edit] The best breed of dog I’ve owned have been Pitts and rotties. Both have been great family dogs and very trustworthy around my kids and friends. The only dog I’ve been bit by is a chihuahua. Any dog can be mean if you don’t raise them right. Stop spreading ignorance!!

Nearly every “pitbull” Ive know was a very sweet dog to people and other animals. But I have seen several that were monsters. They were still kind to people but would kill any animal they saw. But this was in Fresno and the dogs had been breed for fighting. Most bloodlines have been breed for good temperament for the last 150 years or so at this point. My dog is half staffordshire terrier and he has never harmed another dog or person in his 11 years.

I’ve know some dobermans that were absolute man eaters and a couple chows that were unpredictable and aggressive to people. Chihuahua are the worst but they cant do much damage.

The only time I was ever attacked by any dog it was a horrible mean little bastard thing… I’ve never had any pit scare me the way that little punk ass dog did
Perhaps to put it straight

My personal feelings about this is that nobody should possess a dog which they themselves can not control physically or by way of respect .

There’s no way a 91 year old is a good candidate to own a pit bull
They are amazing animals and the poor animals have this heinous reputation due to being chosen by the wrong type of owners

And owners choosing the dog for all the wrong reasons

If this poor elderly couple whom I do feel very bad for chose this dog in particular for specific needs such as a feeling of protection or similar,
I feel any other breed could do the same
These are strong willed and muscular animals that need very knowledgeable owners who are able to follow through on training & ample socializing their pet with any thing which they feel their animal may likely encounter such as cats or children or even themselves obviously

If an animal decided to attack another
Or a human this is a horrible thing clearly
But the error is on the side of the human
Seeing as any dog is capable of this act
And I’ve seen terriers that could blow your entire mind with the same and even more vicious behavior and just because an animal is large it don’t mean it’s any more efficient in providing anything unless it’s taught better also to the likewise although an animal is small does in no way guarantee that this animal is any less capable of being ferocious destructive or dangerous if it is not taught .

There are some things genetically that are shown to be relevant in a small group of this breed when it comes to bloodline certain factors can cause a pit bull to be neurotic, psychotic, aggressive and violent toward other animals and ppl

But like I said it’s a small amount and much more rare than shitty or incompetent owners.. and even further rare when compared to the amount of ignorant or oblivious and or undereducated owners !

Any dog could do this
Especially to a person who is physically less strong or able to move quicker than the animal itself

No way justifying the terrible happening
Only stating that if this poor soul indeed was the owner, at the age of 91 I would assume that this was sadly a poor choice on behalf of the owner himself as the dog had no say so in this choice
Anyone who’s not gonna be able to grab hold of their pet and remind it who is alpha or be consistent on teaching

Honestly should stick with another breed in which is more easily kept

The worst possible outcome in any event
In the world of dog owning
Would be for a dog to feel or sense the owners insecurity or dominance or leadership skill which leads only to a place of fear .

One can’t fear the animal they choose as a house pet or family member
That’s sad these dogs get bracketed into this ugly irreversible reputation which results in society as a majority depicting
Them to be bad or dangerous

This is an epidemic stemming from bad choices made by people only

Why would someone physically unable to restrain a pit feel secure in an ownership position with knowing that?

Sad and heartbreaking
The person IS more important than the dog bottom line but did the owner choose the animal or was it the animal that chose the human ?

Considering this fact
It’s safe to say if it was or wasn’t his pet be it someone else’s even …

I have had my dogs attacked twice. Both times it was a pitbull. If you can’t control it…probably shouldn’t own it…yes you..the little girl in diamond studded jeans with the pink phone and jacked up truck with the snarling dog sitting shotgun …I’m talking about you.

When you are killed by a dog, like this elderly gentleman was, be sure to get back to us and make a point of telling us it was one of those small yappy dogs and not the mythical ‘Nanny of Olde England’.

A friend’s cat was mauled and killed by a neighbor’s pitbull. Of course the owner claimed that it was an anomaly and that the dog lived around small children, but it was off its leash for a few minutes when it raced across the road and killed that beautiful little black and white girl cat. My friend read up on pitbulls and there are so many cases of those dogs just randomly turning on people, even when they’ve been trained or seem peaceful. One time a woman had a pitbull in the back of her car, opened the door and it lunged out and attacked her. This is so horrific that this man lost his life due to what I suspect was a pitbull attack.

South Fork Eel River, I know of two dogs with no pitt bull in them whatsoever that killed a neighbor’s cat. Cats should be kept indoors for one thing. For another, cats are not much different than squirrels as far as dogs are concerned unless they are raised with cats.

It doesn’t take a Pit Bull to kill a cat! Much smaller dogs are excellent cat killers! We had a lady drive out to visit our ranch about 20 years ago. She wanted to look at some of our horses. She had a great big pet Tabby cat. The cat apparently went everywhere with them. She was told by several of my employees DO NOT LET THAT CAT OUT OF YOUR CAR !!!!! She was told “we have working hounds here, and they will go after a cat, if they see it”! She said “my cat can take care of itself!!!” She proceeded to get the pet cat out of the car, and placed it on the hood of said car, loose. Another employee was walking down the our driveway with two of our Walker Coonhounds, coming back from a run. The dogs were coming down a slight, graveled hill. They saw the cat…..wham…..they hit the end of their leads, and were on that cat in about 5 seconds! Cut the poor cat in half before anyone could even react! Very sad for the cat owner. But these were working hounds, who had trailed and treed Cougar and Bobcats, as well as Raccoon, for a living. Their prey drive was tremendous. It has to be, to go after the things they trail! Needless to say, the lady and her husband left without buying a horse. Oh, and by the way, these hound dogs never bit anyone their entire lives! They were gentle around people and other dogs. Very respectful, but not fawning. They were working dogs.

America remains under the grip of gangsterism. Thus, fighting dogs as status symbols. Disgusting. Until we purge all gangsterism from society (fighting dogs, gangster signs, baggy clothing and pants ganging from hips, sports teams as gang symbols, dressing like a prison inmate, trucker hats with hip hop symbols, and on and on) we will continue to see what I call social gang violence (like sucker punching people and picking their pockets, etc) and of course regular gang violence (in gang territories). MS13 is not a boy scout troop, either.

Fighting dogs are gangster status symbols. Gangsterism has pummelled America since its mass media introduction through hip hop/rap videos on MTV in the eighties and continues to destroy society. Until America wakes up, and ends gangsterism (baggy pants falling from hips, prison clothing, trucker hats, sports apparel used by gangs, broken ghetto English, and on and on) we will have more deaths.

Pit bulls have been around a lot longer than gangsterism. They have just made them recently popular. There is a web site that clearly specifies dangerous dogs. https://www.dogsbite.org/dangerous-dogs.php I have personally been bitten by chihuahuas, many times; cocker spaniels; doberman’s and rottweilers. I have been lucky enough to not be bitten by a pit bull, but I try to maintain dominance and strength around them. Probably just luck that I have not been bitten. The worst bite I ever had was from a cat. Usually, they just bite and run.

Rebel yell- I couldn’t hear most of what you said because your tired racist dog whistle was blaring in my ears. Your definition of “gangster” could more honestly be “black” or “urban.” Hip hop is widely popular for at least two reasons: it’s good music and the people who make it are members of a larger demographic (peer audience). You’re not scared of gangsters you’re scared of poor people from cities.

Street gangsterism is ubiquitous in every culture. It’s how some poor people in cities choose to negotiate power relations, just as a property owning person of means and wealth may join the police force to ensure the defense of their world. Or a super rich person might become a politician to greater influence the global game board they play on.

Pits aren’t exclusive to urban gangsters or hip hop and they’re not exclusive to dog attacks. Even if they are prevalent among “baggy pants” wearers their popularity skews the statistics. That’s the dog people are trying to have. How many aren’t attacking?

No they aren’t exclusive but I’d say 74 percent of the deaths last year by dogs were pit bulls is pretty close. Your name says it all, listing known fighting blood lines of pit bulls. You and your lack of critical thinking and commons sense are why so many people are being killed by pit bulls. Why people are being forced to carry guns and are not safe on their own porches, or walking in their own neighborhoods. You are as much a problem and dangerous vicious pit bulls.

I don’t think Pits are more prone to attack than some other breeds, it’s just that pits are so darn strong. When they do attack, the outcome is usually quite horrible. I don’t blame the dog, I blame the people who choose to own a living dealer of death.

Pit bulls attack and maul 5 or 6 people every single day. All other breeds give a warning but a pit bull will wag it’s tail, play bow to indicate it wants to play and then attack. They are liars and attack with no reason. Most of the time other breeds only attack out of fear or resource guarding, pit bulls attack for fun.

I have been bitten 4 times by chihuahas, and 2 times by small Terriers, many dogs bite, not just some breeds, responsible pet ownership is always the most important element. Spayed and neuter and Humboldt county wouldn’t be overpopulated with unwanted and untrained dogs.

I agree that lots of Chihuahuas are nasty, bitey creatures. But few will ever die of a Chihuahua mauling.

For sheer numbers of dangerous dogs own by people who are irresponsible, pit bulls are the worst. So many of their owners don’t exercise supervision, think that it’s the fault of others if they are attacked and chose a pit bull in the first place exactly for the reason they are intimidating and aggressive.

Not amount of reason will ever get through to them. Anyone who says that a Chihauhau is a nasty dog breed and that makes them worse than pit bulls is never going to worry about other people.

Pits are amazing animals, loyal, loving, and smart. It’s the owner that is the problem. period. I was the proud owner of a wonderful pit for a long time. I adopted a chiweenie who is meaner than my pit was. What about Rottweiler’s and German Shepards? There are certain breeds you have to spend more time with to make them obidient. All I’m saying is don’t generalize anything. People, animals, places, ANYTHING.

Being attacked by one is pretty educational. Reading the news is pretty clear too. Anyone who insists that their pit bull would never hurt anyone already knows better. They do know as well as everyone the reputation of pit bulls is earned. As long as they feel safe with their own dog, that is all that matters to them.

It’s not abused or fighting dogs that are mauling and killing, but rather well loved family dogs. While in a small percentage of, bad owners have been part of the problem, it is wrong to focus only on the owner, and not also on the breed. If it were a bad owner problem, we would see other breeds attacking as frequently and severely as pit bulls. Certainly the 300 other breeds also have bad owners and are abused. But actually genetics play a major role in behavior. This is obvious in all breeds. For instant, observe behaviors in other breeds. Collies herd, Blood Hounds track, Pointers point birds, Labradors retrieve, etc. All of these are inherited behaviors. Pit bulls were selectively bred for blood sports. One can’t love or train out genetics. Read, “Canine Behavioral Genetics: Pointing Out the Phenotypes and Herding up the Genes” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2253978/ “While advocates of these breeds claim that maltreatment is more likely underlying cause of the kind of aggression leading to biting incidents (some of which involve human fatalities), in fact we know that personality is fairly unresponsive to environment.” http://www.animalbehavioronline.com/dogpersonality.html The pit bull lobby will tell you it’s not genetics, but this is Kimbo, the sire of the pit bull named Niko that killed Mia Derouen. Other owners of Kimbo’s off spring have stated that their dogs have had aggression problems as well. https://www.dogsbite.org/pdf/pedigree-niko-sire-most-wanted-kimbo.pdf Pit bulls don’t have to be trained to fight. Even pit bull puppies know how to fight at a young age. Watch this video of four pit bull puppies violently fighting: https://www.facebook.com/784811771645628/videos/vb.784811771645628/798164500310355/?type=2&theater

Furthermore, half of all pit bull related fatalities are on their own owners or family members. I refuse to believe these owners would raise their own dogs kill themselves or their loved ones. The argument of nature vs. nurture is a fun academic discussion but there is no reason to own an animal that can kill you if you are not the “Dog Whisperer.” There are 300 other breeds of dogs that even when neglected and abused do not turn on people or kill other animals as a result.

You got part of it right, dogs are just like people in the same way that some dogs are loving caring creatures and some dogs are just uptight assholes. There are good dogs and bad dogs just like people, not all dogs are born inherently good until some person makes them bad.

Of course there are ranges of personalities in every breed but over all they are creatures in which humans deliberated attempted to stabilize the personalities useful to their purpose. If this isn’t true, there would be no pit bull. Every dog would be lean, average sized without the massive jaws and muscles of the pit bull because, without humans supporting them, pit bulls are not survivors in the wild. Or even in the city as they are not efficient enough in their food use to support themselves by hunting or scavaging.

It was tragic it mr.steel was a warm hearted man loved his life long wife of 68 years,whom also had just lost his wife recently, he was my nieces grandfather and I knew them and yes I think it was the REAL OWNERS DOG,after all she sat in car while the dog turn on him until help came Carma

When I worked at the dog pound in Santa Fe, we were the quarantine station for all dogs that bit anyone in northern New Mexico. Some were shepherds or Dobermans that bit the paperboy, but a surprising number were dachshunds and chihuahuas. The big dogs generally comported themselves very well during their stay; the little ones were always hellions. You’d have to throw a towel over them to safely move them to a new cage.

As LTL said above, it’s not that Pitbulls are necessarily more likely to bite than other breeds, it’s that they are much more likely to inflict major or even fatal injuries. I had to get 2 Pitbulls off of my 100 pound German Shepherd mix when they had him on the ground on his back, by the throat. The owner called them off as I was pummeling them and when I was checking him for damage, they attacked again. At the time I didn’t appreciate the danger I was in.

I hope the owner paid your vet bill. We know some people who had a min-pin. A neighbors pit pull got into the fenced back yard and started mauling. The owner was right there and could do nothing. The wife grabbed hammer and started hitting pit on the head, it did not stop. Husband ran into house and got gun out of safe and killed pit. Owner paid vet bills.

We came upon an acquaintance at the local dog park who had fallen and her ankle was obviously broken. She asked us to take her dogs home since an ambulance had been called. One was a pit. I was freaked but of course said we would (my husband and I). That pit was so strong, it was standing on the console while my husband went to see if he could get past the code lock. I was trying to push pit away from my head back into the back seat and could not budge him.

When my adopted jack russell was with us, my husband brought home a yellow lab I believe it was. from some dinner he was at, Ducks Unlimited or something like that. Dog seemed very nice and bonded quickly to my husband. The next morning DH was leaving for work and I put down the bowl he had mixed eggs in so my little dog could lick it up and lab attacked. She got ahold of my dog by the face. My husband immediately grabbed her by the collar and pulled up and up came my dog with her. I grabbed the collar and DH pried her mouth apart. Apparently I was screaming the entire time. My dog dropped to the floor and shook in my arms for the next 30 minutes. Lab was taken back and found a nice home on a ranch.

Dune walker, Dr. Dunbar (a veterinarian and trainer of 40+ years) has a bite scale you can Google…if a dog “Attacks” another dog and no damage is done then it is just part of dominance behavior. I’ve seen a “Pittbull” actually a Dogo (hasn’t the Terrier of a Pittbull and is part Great Dane so is much larger than a Pittbull) attacked by a Malamute because the Malamute’s owner didn’t like Pittbulls and the Dogo did zero damage. I have seen Pittbulls and other breeds pin another dog down by its neck during a fight and do no damage at all.

They called it an accident ,,dogs are people too so how many people you know who have snapped over something. Maybe they went n got drunk got in a fight…maybe the dog just snapped. Poor baby….poor man.

So many love blind defenses of a breed that should not be allowed in the general population outside of the attack and kill instincts it was breed for.
Have you noticed the shear width and crushing power of their jaws?
They are not intelligent enough to overcome they’re inbreed instincts.

The only two breeds of dog specifically used to hunt humans is the German Shepherd and Doberman Pinscer. German shepherd was used to locate Jews in WW 2 and as a police dog for the SS. The Doberman Pinscer was used to hunt down Jews and kill them in WW2. You want to see jaws specialized for ripping apart human flesh, check out a Doberman next time you see one. Maybe the dogs bred for killing people should be demonized before a pit bull is.

Because it’s not relevant, if true at all. If any dog is directed to kill and has both the wherewithal and temperament to do it, they will. But the dogs we are talking about are not war dogs. They are dogs residing in the general population.

You raise an interesting thought though. I have never had a German Shepherd or Doberman threaten me or mine. Only pit bulls and a purported wolf cross maybe because the other dog breed owners recognize their dogs potential and don’t let them free to do it. Maybe that is something that pit bull owners should take to heart.

39 U.S. dog bite-related fatalities occurred in 2017. Despite being regulated in Military Housing areas and over 900 U.S. cities, pit bulls contributed to 74% (29) of these deaths. Pit bulls make up about 6.5% of the total U.S. dog population.3
During the 13-year period of 2005 to 2017, canines killed 433 Americans. Two dog breeds, pit bulls (284) and rottweilers (45), contributed to 76% (329) of these deaths. 35 different dog breeds contributed to the remaining fatal dog maulings.

If the problem was with owners then we’d be seeing fatalities by all breeds and each year there would be a different #1 killer. But it is always pit bulls every year.

If you really believe it’s the owner, then cite specific cases where a pit bull was ‘raised wrong’ or ‘abused’ and severely mauled or killed a person. In most cases, where a pit bull has severely attacked or killed a victim, the owner is not held accountable with criminal charges because the law could not prove the owner was negligent and the dog was not aggressive before the incident.

I have been following dangerous dog attacks for four years. I’m in a support group with some of these families. All these families were blind-sided by a horrific pit bull attack. All these pit bulls were house dogs and considered members of the family. None of these dogs were trained to fight. Pit type dogs are hardwired to maul and kill without warning, it is a part of the genetic code like border collies herd, labs swim, goldens retrieve, pointers point, and bloodhounds track.

PEOPLE WAKE-UP AND LISTEN TO THE MEDICAL EXPERTS NOT TO NAIVE PIT BULL OWNERS!

11 Medical peer-reviewed studies that prove pit bull type-dogs are dangerous as pets. Level 1 trauma center dog bite studies from all geographical regions in the U.S. are reporting a higher prevalence of pit bull type dogs injuries than all other breeds of dogs. In many cases, the studies (2009 to 2016) also report that pit bull injuries have a higher severity of injury and require a greater number of operative interventions. http://blog.dogsbite.org/2016/10/table-retrospective-level-1-trauma-dog-bite-studies-2009-2016.html

Pit bulls have been bred for centuries to kill. They are the #1 canine killer of people, pets and livestock. They have a genetically inbred trait for unpredictable explosive aggression that cannot ever be trained out of them. They were bred to be lethal and they are every day. We need breed safety laws to keep our communities safe.

Julie, most killings occurred in the Southern US where dog fighters are more prevalent…dog fighters took a liking to Pittbulls due in part to their stout low to the ground build – many large breeds could have become popular with irresponsible cruel people and been over bred and under socialized etc and thereby caused more deaths. In the past, other breeds were in fact responsible for most deaths…depends on which large breeds are being used for what and by whom.

Pit bulls, again. Either a huge and disproportionate number of pit bull owners across the nation are the worst, most irresponsible dog owners, or the breed is dangerous. I’m going with the latter. But either way, it’s a public safety problem. Blame whoever you like, but the fact remains that pit bulls maim and kill the most people and pets. They kill more people than any other breed, more than ALL other breeds–COMBINED!

I see a lot of people parroting the usual “It’s the owner!” nonsense.
Do these pit worshippers honestly believe that this 91-year-old elderly man, or the hundreds of grieving families across America “trained” or “raised” their pit bulls to slaughter and kill their own children, family members, or themselves? (Over half the people killed by pit bulls are the owners and their families) I’m not buying it. It IS the breed. That’s why no other breed, and not even all the other breeds combined, have killed as many people as pit bulls have. Pits are not the biggest or the strongest breed, and they are not the only ones with bad owners. It IS the breed.

If breed doesn’t matter, then the amount of people killed by pit bulls would be exactly the same as amount of people killed by golden retrievers, right? Especially when you consider that goldens are one of the most popular (If not #1) breeds in America. I’d love to see that research on that. 😏